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Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he wasn’t surprised that his Moreland Commission investigating public corruption was largely split along partisan lines on the question of taxpayer funding for campaigns. The panel’s Monday report, echoing Cuomo’s own agenda from earlier this year, recommended the creation of a 6-to-1 matching system for small donations, up to a certain limit and with other controls.

A dissent from seven of the panel’s 25 commissioners disputed the efficacy of such a plan, especially after the expansion of “independent expenditure” spending in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision.

“Public finance is a policy-slash-political issue, so I wasn’t overly surprised” about the split, Cuomo said after a press conference announcing a series of concerts by Friend of Cuomo Billy Joel next year at Madison Square Garden.

“There are a lot of other elements of the report where there was no dissent and there was no division,” he said, referring to changes in bribery laws, enhanced disclosure by public officials and revamping enforcement of campaign finance laws. ” … I believe there is consensus around those points, and those are issues that we should move forward on.”

“You have misconstrued the Governor’s statements this morning. The Moreland report includes many important recommendations that have an overwhelmingly inarguable consensus. But according to the report, the section in support of public finance was not unanimous. The Governor continues to unequivocally support public campaign finance, has worked to enact it, and, though it was and remains the primary sticking point standing in the way of broader reform, will continue to push for passage this year.”

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